


love is a difficult thing to grasp

by Smalls



Series: a tale of a love from long ago [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hadestown Fusion, Falling In Love, M/M, can it be slow burn if they are already sleeping together and hypothetically engaged????, look i don't know what's going on okay?, or at least starting to fall in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25963915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smalls/pseuds/Smalls
Summary: “Oh, you remind me of someone I knew once,” he tells Virgil as he sits down. “A long time ago. She didn’t want to fall in love either. But she did, in spite of herself.”Virgil bristles.“Who said anything about love?”***in which Roman loves Virgil with all his heart and Virgil...isn't exactly indifferent
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: a tale of a love from long ago [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884454
Comments: 7
Kudos: 41





	love is a difficult thing to grasp

**Author's Note:**

> so this is a series now because i have no self-control

Roman stares at the young man sleeping beside him.

Virgil’s face is peaceful and open, in a way it rarely is when he is awake. Roman wishes he knew his beauty better. Wishes he would share his secrets and dreams with Roman. Wishes he would share his life. 

But, instead, Virgil laughs and teases and dances just out of reach during the day, then comes to Roman at night, seeking warmth and pleasure before disappearing with the sunrise.

And Roman…Roman decides to take what he can get. He knows Thomas thinks he is a foolish boy, pining after Virgil like some lovesick puppy, but he doesn’t care. Because when he first saw Virgil standing alone against the sky, it was like he’d always known him. Had always loved him and would do so until the end of time.

Roman presses a soft kiss to the top of Virgil’s head.

“One day, I’ll get to hold you, hold the world in my arms, forever,” he whispers to his sleeping love.

Virgil shifts in his sleep and Roman smiles, singing softly under his breath,

“ _La, la la la, la la, la._ ”

Virgil curls closer to Roman and Roman’s heart soars higher than any melody.

***

Virgil slipped onto the train without a second thought.

He could feel when the wind was changing. Could feel when the biting cold was moving ever closer. Could feel when it was time to move to another town.

As he road that train, he stared out the window, watching the town disappear from view. There had been nothing, no one, to keep him there. Sure, there had been plenty of men willing to offer him a bed when the weather was fair and the food enough. But when the wind turned and the nights got colder and the food disappeared, so did they.No one bothered to stick around, and that was fine by Virgil. After all, he was better off alone.

He knew how to find a warm place to lay down, was willing to do whatever it takes, and he knew when it was time to leave. And Virgil knew better than to dream of a full belly and a warm bed beside someone who cared.

Until he meets Roman.

The man is absolutely mad. He must be to call Virgil things like “beauty” and “darling” and “lover” and “mine”. But he’s also sweet and innocent and lovely and _gods_ can the poet sing. And sometimes Virgil catches himself thinking, maybe he could stay here with Roman. Maybe that madman really can bring spring back again, and maybe Virgil would stay, even if he can’t.

***

Summer comes to town and Thomas watches.

Watches the way Virgil dance in the bar, calculated and teasing. Watches the way Roman plays, carefree and heartfelt. Watches their eyes met for a moment—Roman’s soft and longing, Virgil’s curious yet warily—before looking away again.

Thomas has been around for a long time and he’s seen a lot in his day. He knows that look in Roman’s eyes. The look of a man in love, a man who has found his muse and is desperate to hold it close. And he knows the look in Virgil’s. The look of a man haunted by the fates, a runaway who never looks back lest the wind catch him.

He doesn’t know if the gods will be kind to these two. He doesn’t know if it matters what the gods decide, since not even the gods are above the fates.

But he prays they will. Their love reminds him of an old song, a tale from long ago. And he hopes—should these two chose to sing it again—it will all turn out right this time, in the end.

***

“Is that your boy up there?”

Virgil looks up at the man—the god—before him. He glances around him to see Roman, standing on a table and playing his heart out. Virgil wants to smiles. Instead, he shrugs and the god laughs.

“Oh, you remind me of someone I knew once,” he tells Virgil as he sits down. “A long time ago. She didn’t want to fall in love either. But she did, in spite of herself.”

Virgil bristles.

“Who said anything about love?” The god laughs again.

“You’re still here,” he says simply. “People like you don’t stick around, unless there’s something, _someone_ , keeping you here.”

“That doesn’t mean I love him,” Virgil protests. “It just means—”

“Kiddo, people like you wouldn’t stay for anything short of love. Trust me.” The god looks at Roman, wistful expression in his eyes. “It’s why I stayed.”

Virgil hesitates. He’s heard the stories, of course. Everyone’s heard the stories. But sometimes stories are just stories.

“Do…do you ever wish you hadn’t?”

The god gives him a considering look.

“Yes,” he finally says. “There was a time when I dreaded returning to my husband and my gilded cage. Now, a part of me misses him when I’m here.”

“What changed?” Virgil asks, unable to hold back his curiosity.

“A poet.”

“What?”

“A poet came to Hadestown,” the god continued, smiling fondly. “He reminded me why I agreed to leave all this behind. Reminded my husband that before he was a king, he was only a man in love.”

“Oh,” Virgil says stupidly. “They, uh, they don’t say that in the songs.”

“No, they don’t,” the god agrees. “They prefer the other part of the story. Where the poet tries to win back his lady love and fails. Some people just prefer a tragedy.” The god looks over his shoulder at Roman, who has stopped playing and is accepting drinks from the patrons. “Not me, though. I like happy endings.” He gives Virgil a scrutinising look. “What kind of ending do you like?” Virgil flinches under that intense stare.

“I…I’ve never…this is just how the world is,” he stutters.

“And what about the way the world could be?” Virgil looks away and pulls his jacket a little tighter around himself.

“I don’t know how the world could be.”

“Hmm…he does,” the god says, gesturing to Roman who has spotted them now and is waving at Virgil, both eager and shy. Virgil offers a small wave, smiling despite himself.

“Yeah, he does.”

“Well, I’m rooting for you two,” the god says standing up.

“Thank you, Persephone.”

“Aw, you’re adorable,” Persephone coos, “But you and I are friends now. You can call me Patton.”

"Alright, thanks, Patton."

"No problem, kiddo."

***

Patton reaches for Thomas' shoulder as he leaves.

"Do you think they'll make it?" Thomas shrugs as he watches Roman take the recently vacated seat. He asks Virgil something, who rolls his eyes in response, but doesn't leave the table. 

"I don't know, but I hope they try."

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, tune in next time to find out where this story is going!


End file.
